Ocasio-Cortez: Booker doesn't need to apologize for criticizing Biden's comments on working with racist senators

"For the record, Cory Booker does *not* owe Joe Biden an apology for pointing out that waxing nostalgic about working with segregationists is insensitive," the freshman New York Democrat tweeted Thursday.

Biden stirred up controversy Tuesday evening when he referenced working with the late segregationist Sens. James Eastland of Mississippi and Herman Talmadge of Georgia, who Biden called "one of the meanest guys I ever knew."

"I was in a caucus with James O. Eastland. He never called me 'boy,' he always called me 'son,' " Biden told donors during a fundraiser in New York.

"Well, guess what? At least there was some civility. We got things done," Biden added. "We didn't agree on much of anything. We got things done. We got it finished."

Booker then lambasted Biden for his comments, saying he was "disappointed" Biden hadn't apologized and that "he should."

"Vice President Biden's relationships with proud segregationists are not the model for how we make America a safer and more inclusive place for black people, and for everyone," the New Jersey Democrat said in a statement Wednesday.

"You don't joke about calling black men 'boys,' " he added. "Men like James O. Eastland used words like that, and the racist policies that accompanied them, to perpetuate white supremacy and strip black Americans of our very humanity."

But Biden has refused to apologize, calling instead for Booker to apologize because "he knows better."

"Apologize for what?" Biden told CNN when asked about Booker's call outside a fundraiser Wednesday evening in Maryland. "Cory should apologize. He knows better. There's not a racist bone in my body. I've been involved in civil rights my whole career."

Ocasio-Cortez also took issue with Biden's explanation, questioning whether Booker staying mum on the issue would have been a better move in Biden's eyes.

" 'He knows better?' Really? What is 'better?' To stay quiet about it?" she tweeted.

She urged those troubled by Biden's comments to address the issue in a "compassionate" but vocal manner, arguing that failing to address it could endanger 2020 voter turnout.

"For folks saying we should gloss over this, I think it's important to realize that we can't risk depressed turnout in 2020," she tweeted. "The original remark is valid to ask about & have a discussion on or clarify - not dismiss. We should be compassionate toward each other, but not silent."

Booker, in turn, has also stood firm in his criticism of Biden, telling CNN's Don Lemon on "CNN Tonight" on Wednesday that he found Biden's comments "so insulting."

"I know that I was raised to speak truth to power, and I will never apologize for doing that, and Vice President Biden shouldn't need this lesson," he said.